1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens barrel that supports a lens so as to be movable back and forth in an optical axis direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical apparatus such as a digital still camera, a function of a moving image shooting as well as a still image shooting is required similarly to the digital video camera. In the moving image shooting, a smooth zoom operation with a small image shake and a high magnification are required. However, the lens barrel gets heavier because of the high magnification, and the impact that is applied by the drop-off is large. Therefore, a lens barrel which has a resistance to an external force such as an impact is necessary. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-258642 discloses a lens barrel in which cam grooves intersect with each other.
However, in the lens barrel of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-258642, at an intersectional position of the cam grooves, a follower pin only engages with the other cam groove, which is relatively weak for the impact. Additionally, at the intersectional position of the cam groove, a smooth zoom operation is difficult since the cam groove that drives the follower pin is changed.